Hearst Castle & Morro Bay
Hearst Castle – San Simeon, CA
William Randolph Hearst was born in San Francisco on April 29, 1863. His father, George Hearst, was a farmer from Missouri who came to California during the Gold Rush. While lacking a formal education, Geroge Hearst had some knowledge of geology and while searching in the eastern Sierra he discovered galena rich in silver. He almost instantly became rich and soon took a 19-year-old school teacher from Missouri named Phoebe Apperson as his bride in 1862. The couple settled in San Francisco where the couples only child, William Randolph, was born. George Hearst amassed an enormous fortune with silver mining in the Comstock Lode of Virginia City, Nevada and then venturing into cattle ranching. For his ranching operations, he purchased over 150,000 acres along California’s central coast in what today is San Simeon. Another one of George Hearst’s business ventures was publishing with the purchase of the San Francisco Examiner in 1880.
There were two influential events in William Randolph Hearst’s life that ultimately led to the construction of Hearst Castle. In 1873, a 10-year-old William Randolph Hearst took an extended 18-month trip with his mother to Europe. During their grand tour, they visited countless museums, palaces, castles, and museums across Europe. This foundational experience for Hearst sparked his lifelong passion for European art and architecture which he later incorporated into his collection and, ultimately, Hearst Castle. Throughout his childhood, William Randolph Hearst along with his parents and servants would travel down from San Francisco to their cattle ranch on the Central Coast where they would camp for weeks on the hilltops overlooking the Pacific Ocean. From childhood through his young adult life, these “camping trips” were amongst some of Hearst’s fondest memories. It was for this reason that William Randolph Hearst ultimately chose this site as his future California home.
In 1887, George Hearst was elected to the U.S. Senate where he served until his death in 1891. Upon his election to the Senate, George Hearst handed over the San Francisco Examiner to his 23-year-old son, William Randolph, launching his publication empire. After moving to New York City, the ambitious young Hearst acquired the New York Journal and fought a ruthless circulation battle with his chief competitor, Joseph Pulitzer. Hearst gained circulation numbers with his extravagant methods of yellow journalism which challenged the norms of the time period. He sold papers by printing giant headlines over lurid stories featuring crime, corruption, sex, and innuendos. Soon Hearst acquired more newspapers and created a chain that numbered nearly 30 papers in major American cities at its peak. He later expanded his publishing empire, known as Hearst Communications, to magazines making it one of the largest media companies in the world. Hearst controlled the editorial positions and coverage of political news in all his papers and magazines, and thereby often published his personal views.
William Randolph Hearst channeled his editorial and publishing influences into a political career as a progressive Democrat, claiming to speak on behalf of the working class. He was elected to his first of two terms in the U.S. House of Representatives in 1903 where he represented New York. In 1904, he had an unsuccessful bid for the presidency as a Democrat and another failed effort as an Independent in 1908. Hearst also dabbled in New York politics with unsuccessful bids for Mayor of New York City in 1905 and 1909, and governor in 1906. Following the end of World War I, Hearst gradually began adopting more conservative views and started promoting an isolationist foreign policy to avoid any more entanglement in what he regarded as corrupt European affairs.
All throughout his adult life, William Randolph Hearst was a prolific collector of European art and architectural pieces. He would often purchase the entire catalog in an auction not knowing everything he had acquired until the shipment arrive to him in the United States. One of his favorite purchases were the collections of old European churches, particularly Italian and Spanish, which allowed him to amass an enormous amount of Renaissance art and architectural pieces. In 1919, the media tycoon hired San Francisco architect Julia Morgan to build what he referred to as his ranch in San Simeon. Their collaboration on the project lasted from 1919 to 1947 with Morgan designing a Mediterranean Revival estate to house Hearst’s vast collection of art, antiquities, and architectural pieces. Hearst formally named the estate “La Cuesta Encantada” (The Enchanted Hill), but his numerous guests commonly began referring to it as “Hearst Caste”.
Hearst Castle is a 127-acre estate that sits atop a hill overlooking the Pacific Ocean in San Simeon, California. A winding 5-mile road makes its way up to the estate from Pacific Coast Highway. The estate consisted of the main house, cottages for guests, swimming pools, gardens, tennis courts, servants’ quarters, and even a zoo! At one time Hearst’s zoo was one of the largest private zoos in the world housing exotic animals such as polar pears, giraffes, elephants, lions, and tigers. In fact, there are still approximately 150 zebras, descendants of those original zoo animals, that graze freely on the Hearst Ranch property alongside the cattle.
There are three large cottages on the estate, each named after its view: Casa del Mar (House of the Sea), Casa del Sol (House of the Sun), and Casa del Monte (House of the Mountains). The cottages were built to be used by family and guests when they visited the estate and each consists of bedrooms, bathrooms, and sitting rooms. None of the cottages have kitchens or dining rooms; instead, guests were expected to go to the main house for meals. One famous guest was Winston Churchill who stayed in Casa del Monte during the summer of 1929. Below the cottages are a series of terraces leading down to the breathtaking Neptune Pool. Named after the Roman God of the Sea, the focal point of the pool is a 17th century Italian statue of Neptune which is incorporated into the temple façade. The temple is constructed with six Roman columns which are over 2,000 years old. The 104-foot-long pool ranges in depth from 3-10 feet and is tiled with white marble which reflects the blue sky overhead.
The main house of the estate is the 68,500-square-foot Casa Grande. The house follows the Mediterranean Revival Style of the rest of the estate with a focus on the architecture of Southern Spain. The overall appearance of Casa Grande is that of a cathedral from Ronda, Spain with the twin bell towers as its main feature. There is a total of 115 rooms in Casa Grande including 38 bedrooms, 30 fireplaces, and 42 bathrooms. The first floor was designed for receiving and entertaining guests including the Assembly Room for the arrival of guests, the Refectory for having meals, Morning Room, Billiard Room, and a Movie Theater were first run films were shown.
The second floor of Casa Grande was dedicated to lodging guests including large suites used by such Hollywood stars as Cary Grant and Charlie Chaplin. A large library housing over 4,000 books is also on the second floor and it displayed Hearst’s most treasured collection: 150 ancient Greek vases, all more than two thousand years old.
The third floor of Casa Grande was the private residence of William Randolph Hearst. On this floor that was off limits to guests, Hearst and his long-time mistress, Marion Davies, had their bedrooms, sitting rooms, and Mr. Hearst had his large study. Special guests, such as Shirley Temple, were treated to one of the two suites directly below the bells in the twin towers.
During World War II, work on the estate began to slow as Hearst encountered some financial problems. He was forced to sell off most of the zoo animals and downsize his grand plans for completing La Cuesta Encantada. The Grande Entrance and North Terrace he had planned with marble statues and fountains never was completed. Only parts of his Recreation Building were completed, with the tennis courts and indoor Roman Pool being popular with Hearst’s many guests. The indoor Roman Pool was completed in 1935 and the design consists of more than a million Murano glass tiles with some of them containing a layer of gold leaf inside.
William Randolph Hearst died on August 14,1951 following a long illness and his estate was inherited by his five sons. Facing enormous maintenance costs and property taxes on such a large estate, the Hearst family donated the property to the State of California in 1957. For the past fifty years, Hearst Castle has been a California State Park and welcomes about a million visitors annually for guided tours of the most famous home in the state. Part of the agreement between the state and Hearst family allows for the continued cattle ranching operation and use of the estate by the family. About 80,000 acres of the original 250,000 acres owned by the family was placed into conservatory where it cannot be developed, but rather remains to this day an active cattle ranch owned by the Hearst Corporation. About 2,000 head of cattle roam freely on the property and the beef from Hearst Ranch is renowned for its high quality due to the free range and grass diet of the cattle. Members of the Hearst family occasionally return to the estate for a family swim in one of the pools or to host events, the last being William Randolph’s great-granddaughter’s wedding in October 2023.
Morro Bay, CA
Morro Bay has been home to Native American tribes for over 8,500 years. In 1542, Portuguese explorer Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo named the massive rock in the bay “El Morro”, which means “the crown-shaped hill”, when he sailed up the California coast. Spanish expeditions later arrived were they solidified the names of Morro Rock and the water surrounding it as Morro Bay. The iconic Morro Rock is a 21-million-year-old volcanic plug. This remnant of an ancient volcano was a sacred site to the early inhabitants and served as a vital navigation landmark for seagoing vessels. Originally drawn to California for the Gold Rush, Franklin Riley arrived in Morro Bay in the 1860s where he established a homestead. In 1870, Riley laid out the town’s grid and established Morro Bay as a port for diary and ranch exports.
Morro Rock was quarried from the 1889 to 1969 to provide rock and gravel for building harbor improvements, most notably the breakwater for Morro Bay and Port San Luis. The hard volcanic rock was ideal for construction projects that accelerated during World War II when Morro Bay was used as a U.S. Navy amphibious training base. Following the war, Morro Bay saw accelerated growth with an abalone fishing industry boom in the 1940s, though it later declined. In 1964, Morro Bay was incorporated into an official city as the town became a popular tourist spot for its fresh seafood and natural beauty. Concern that the quarrying of Morro Rock was destroying the city’s namesake led citizens to get it designated a historic landmark in 1968. Today, visitation to Morro Rock is prohibited in order to protect the wildlife, including peregrine falcons.
Morro Bay State Park was established in 1934 to preserve the vital estuary of Morro Bay and the iconic Morro Rock. The Morro Bay Museum of Natural History opened within the park in 1962 focusing on local geology, oceanography, and the cultural history of region. The museum sits atop a hill overlooking Morro Bay and it is the only natural history museum in the State Park system. From the overlook of the museum, guests get a great view of Morro Rock and sea otters playing in the bay. The over fishing of abalone and fur hunting almost led to the disappearance of sea otters in Morro Bay. These playful marine mammals have made a remarkable comeback thanks to government protections and today they are a common sight in Morro Bay. The state park offers ample recreational opportunities like sailing, hiking, cycling, and birdwatching.
Montaña de Oro State Park located just south of Morro Bay features rugged cliffs, secluded sandy beaches, coastal plains, streams, canyons, and hills – with 1,347-foot Valencia Peak. The park’s name, “Mountain of Gold”, comes from the golden wildflowers that bloom in spring. With over 8,000 acres, including seven miles of shoreline, Montaña de Oro is one of the largest state parks in California. Naturalists and hikers enjoy the solitude and freedom found along the park’s many backcountry and cliffside trails. Vistors hiking along the miles of coastal trails are treated to spectacular views of the Pacific Ocean and the sounds of the pounding surf.
